Populum, argumentant ad 129Are we to see the streets of this ancient land of ours given over to strange
faces?
(The prejudice is xenophobia and the implication is that the 'strange
faces' do not fit in our streets; but no argument is advanced.)Those who commit the fallacy take the easy way out. Instead
of building up a case which carries conviction, they resort to
playing on the emotions of the multitude. This is not sound logic,
although it may be very successful. Conceivably Mark Anthony
might have developed a case for punishing Brutus and the other
assassins, and restoring Caesar's system of government. What he
did was more effective. By appealing to popular rejection of
disloyalty and ingratitude, and to popular support for public
benefactors, he turned a funeral crowd into a rampaging mob.
For several centuries the traditional villains of the ad populum
appeal were landlords and corn merchants. Although they play a
negligible role in society nowadays, so powerful was their hold
on popular prejudice that I expect you could still raise a lusty
cheer by castigating opponents as profiteering landlords and
corn merchants. Their disappearance has left a gap in the ad
populum only partly filled by the mysterious 'speculators'. They
are somewhat more nebulous because whereas letting property
and dealing in corn were respectable occupations which could
be identified, few people would write 'speculator' in the space
for their occupation. Still, their elusiveness imparts a shadowy
and sinister quality to enhance their evil.
/ oppose enterprise zones because they will become sleazy red-light
areas, characterized by sharp dealers and speculators.
(You have to be careful, though. Some audiences would like the
sound of this.)